Roger Morris Park

Historic Houses

Historic Houses

Morris-Jumel Mansion

Location: 65 Jumel Terrace at 160th StreetPhone: (212) 923-8008Description: Manhattan's oldest surviving house, the Morris-Jumel Mansion, atop Harlem Heights, is a monument to colonial grandeur. Built about 1765 as a summer retreat for British colonel Roger Morris, its distinctive style was very advanced for its time. The land on which it sits, "Mount Morris," commanded views of downtown Manhattan as well as of New Jersey and Westchester. During the Revolutionary War, the home was occupied by George Washington, as well as British and Hessian commanders, each drawn by the mansion's military vantage point. After the war, the mansion became Calumet Hall, a popular tavern along the Albany Post Road. In 1810, Stephen Jumel, a rich French merchant, and his wife Eliza bought the property. One year after her husband's death in 1832, Eliza married former Vice President Aaron Burr in the mansion's front parlor, but the union lasted only six months. The City bought the house from later owners, the Earles, in 1903, and it opened as a public museum the next year.